Commercial aircraft are used to transport passengers between various locations. A typical commercial aircraft includes one or more lavatories within an internal cabin.
Systems are currently being developed to disinfect or otherwise sanitize surfaces within aircraft lavatories that use ultraviolet (UV) light. It has been found that far UV light efficiently disinfects exposed surfaces within a lavatory. UVC light is also used to disinfect exposed surfaces.
In order to effectively sanitize a surface within a lavatory, a UV lighting assembly may be fixed in close proximity to the surface. For example, a UV lighting assembly may be spaced from a toilet within a lavatory a distance of less than one foot.
Many UV light sources are relatively large and bulky, and may be difficult to integrate into a confined space of an aircraft lavatory. As an example, known UV light assemblies include parabolic reflectors having diameters that are substantially larger than UV light sources. The relatively large reflectors occupy significant space. As can be appreciated, however, space within an aircraft is limited, and certain UV light assemblies may be too large to integrate into a particular area of the aircraft.
Further, the process of manufacturing curved reflectors is often time and labor intensive, and even more so for reflectors that are to be used with UV light sources, particularly at UVC wavelengths (200-280 nm). Overall, known reflectors used with UVC wavelengths are made of reflecting materials that are formed in a curved shape.
Known reflectors typically do not reflect UV light away from a light source. For example, a standard T-6 fluorescent tube is a gas filled tube. As such, light reflected back to the bulb can still exit the bulb. However, a UV bulb has a metal rod therein that prevents or otherwise inhibits light from passing therethrough.